2012
2012 is a 2009 epic science fiction disaster film directed and co-written by Roland Emmerich. The film stars John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Thandie Newton, Danny Glover, and Woody Harrelson. Synopsis The film includes references to Mayanism, the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, and the 2012 phenomenon in its portrayal of cataclysmic events unfolding in the year 2012. Plot n 2009, Adrian Helmsley, an American geologist, visits astrophysicist Dr. Satnam Tsurutani in India and learns that neutrinos from a massive solar flare are causing the temperature of the Earth's core to rapidly increase. Arriving at a party in Washington D.C., Helmsley presents his info to White House Chief of Staff Carl Anheuser who takes him to meet the President. In 2010, U.S. President Thomas Wilson and other international leaders begin a secret project to ensure humanity's survival. More than 400,000 people are chosen to board enormous "arks" constructed at Cho Ming, Tibet, in the southwest Chinese Himalayas. A Buddhist monk named Nima is evacuated while his brother Tenzin joins the Ark project. Additional funding is raised by selling tickets for €1 billion per person. By 2011, valuable items are moved to the arks with the help of art expert and First Daughter Dr. Laura Wilson. In 2012, Jackson Curtis is a science fiction writer in Los Angeles who works as a limousine driver for Russian billionaire Yuri Karpov. Jackson's ex-wife Kate, and their children Noah and Lilly, live with Kate's boyfriend, plastic surgeon Gordon Silberman. Jackson takes Noah and Lilly camping in Yellowstone National Park. When they arrive at the park, they find the park fenced off by the military who arrived. They cross over the fence, but are captured by the U.S. Army and taken in to see Helmsley, who recognizes Jackson after he published his recent book, Farewell Atlantis. After they are released from military custody, they meet Charlie Frost, who hosts a radio show from the park (also the person who spotted them enter the restricted area). Later that night, after the military evacuates from Yellowstone, Jackson watches Charlie's video of Charles Hapgood's theory that polar shifts and the Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar predict that the 2012 phenomenon will occur. Charlie also tells Jackson that those who discovered this and plotted to inform the public were killed in various accidents. After an earthquake hits Los Angeles, the family returns home. Jackson grows suspicious and rents a Cessna 340 to rescue his family. He collects his family and Gordon as the Earth crust displacement begins with a magnitude 10.9 earthquake, and they narrowly escape Los Angeles as California collapses into the Pacific Ocean. As millions of people die in earthquakes worldwide, the group flies to Yellowstone to retrieve a map from Charlie, escaping as the Yellowstone Caldera erupts. Charlie stays behind to broadcast the eruption and is killed. Learning that the arks are in China, the group lands in Las Vegas to find a larger plane. They find Yuri, his twin sons Alec and Oleg, girlfriend Tamara and pilot Sasha. Helmsley, Anheuser, and Laura Wilson are aboard Air Force One where they are heading to the arks. President Wilson remains in Washington D.C. to address the nation one last time. With the Vice President dead and the Speaker of the House missing, Anheuser appoints himself Acting Commander in Chief even though he is not in the presidential line of succession. Back in Las Vegas, the group steals an Antonov An-500 aircraft and they depart for China as the Yellowstone ash cloud engulfs the city. President Wilson is later killed by a megatsunami that sends the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy crashing into the White House. When the group arrive in China, the plane runs out of fuel and crashes in the mountains, killing Sasha, while the others make a narrow escape. They are then spotted by helicopters from the Chinese army. Yuri and his sons, possessing tickets, are taken to the arks, leaving the Curtis family and Gordon behind along with Tamara because Yuri knows she had an affair with Sasha. The remaining group are picked up by Nima and taken to the arks with his grandparents. They stow away on Ark 4, where the United States contingent is aboard, with the help of Tenzin. As a megatsunami approaches the site, an impact driver becomes lodged in the gears of the ark's hydraulic doors, preventing a boarding gate from closing, which in turn prevents the ship from starting its engines. In the ensuing chaos, Yuri, Gordon and Tamara are killed, and Ark 4 is set adrift. Jackson and Noah dislodge the impact driver and the crew regains control of the ark before it collides with Mount Everest. Jackson rejoins with his family, and he and Kate reconcile. As flood waters from the tsunamis slowly recede, the arks travel to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, where the Drakensberg mountain range has now emerged. Helmsley starts a relationship with Laura. Alternate ending An alternate ending is featured on the DVD release of the film. After Captain Michaels, the captain of Ark 4, announces that they are heading to the Cape of Good Hope, he tells Dr. Helmsley that he has a phone call waiting for him. Dr. Helmsley discovers that his dad Harry is still alive. Harry tells his son that he, Tony (whose arm is in a sling), and some of the passengers and crew survived the megatsunami that struck the Genesis. Captain Michaels states that they should have a visual on the ocean-liner shortly. After Kate thanks Laura for taking care of Lily, Laura tells Jackson that she liked his book. Jackson then gives Noah his cell phone back which he recovered during Ark 4's flooding. Lily then announces that she sees an island. The Arks arrive at the shipwrecked Genesis and the survivors on the beach. Cast *John Cusack as Jackson Curtis, a struggling writer who has to work as a limousine chauffeur to make ends meet. *Chiwetel Ejiofor as Dr. Adrian Helmsley, geologist and Chief Science Advisor to the US President. He is also a fan of Jackson Curtis' work. *Amanda Peet as Kate Curtis, a medical student and Jackson's ex-wife. *Liam James as Noah Curtis, Jackson and Kate's son. *Morgan Lily as Lilly Curtis, Jackson and Kate's daughter. *Thandie Newton as Dr. Laura Wilson, an art expert and President Wilson's daughter. *Thomas McCarthy as Dr. Gordon Silberman, Kate's current boyfriend who is a plastic surgeon. *Danny Glover as Thomas Wilson, the President of the United States. *Oliver Platt as Carl Anheuser, the White House Chief of Staff. *Woody Harrelson as Charlie Frost, a fringe science conspiracy theorist and radio talk show host. *John Billingsley as Professor Frederick West, a scientist and colleague of Dr. Adrian Helmsley. *Jimi Mistry as Dr. Satnam Tsurutani, an astrophysicist who discovers the neutrinos that are warming the Earth's crust. List of Disasters The disasters in the film include; *Earthquakes *Mega-tsunami *Volcano Eruption What Destroyed Cities The supermarket was diveded into two. Los Angeles Destroyed By Earthquake Yellowstone Park Destroyed By Supervolcanos Las Vegas Destroyed By Earthquake Washington Destroyed Storm Airport Destroyed By Tsunamis Production Filming Filming was first scheduled to begin in Los Angeles, California, in July 2008 but instead commenced in Kamloops, Savona, Cache Creek and Ashcroft in British Columbia, Canada. Marketing The film was promoted in a marketing campaign by a fictional organization, the "Institute for Human Continuity"; this entailed a fictitious book written by Jackson Curtis entitled Farewell Atlantis,6 and streaming media, blog updates and radio broadcasts from the apocalyptic zealot Charlie Frost on his website This Is The End. In November 2008, the first trailer was released showing a mega-tsunami raging over the surging over the Himalayas and interlaced a purportedly scientific message suggesting that the world would end in 2012, and that the world's governments were not preparing its population for the event. Two minute film clips were broadcast accross 450 American commercial television within a ten-minute window between 10:50 PM EDT/PDT and 11:00 PM EDT/PDT on October 1, 2009. Soundtrack For full article 2012 Soundtrack Release 2012 was originally scheduled to be released on July 10, 2009. The release date was changed to November 2009 to move out of the busy summer schedule into a time frame that the studio considered to have more potential for financial success. Reception Box Office 2012 earned $166,112,167 in North America and $603,567,306 in other territories for a worldwide total of $769,679,473. Worldwide it is the 50th highest-grossing film, the fifth highest-grossing 2009 film and the fifth highest-grossing film distributed by Sony/Columbia, behind Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy and Skyfall. It is also the second highest grossing film directed by Emmerich, behind Independence Day. On its worldwide opening weekend it made $230.5 million, marking the fourth-largest opening of 2009 and the fourth-largest for Sony/Columbia. Critical response Critics gave 2012 mixed reviews, praising its special effects and tone but criticizing its length (158 minutes) and screenwriting. Gallery Trailers Posters 2012_poster.jpg 2012_poster-2.jpg 2012_poster-3.jpg Trivia *The character Jackson Curtis is the real name of 50 Cent (Curtis Jackson) backwards. Director Roland Emmerich is a big fan of rapper 50 Cent and wanted to name his lead character after him. *This movie was banned in North Korea, because 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-Sung. Several people were arrested for watching pirated copies of the film. *Some cinemas started the film at 20:12 (8:12 pm). *Charlie Frost's animation about the end of the world heavily references the animated Internet meme, "The End of the World", which centers around the idea that humanity will kill itself as a whole before any natural disaster would ever have the time to destroy it. *Gerard Butler was considered for Jackson Curtis. He turned it down because of scheduling conflicts. *The film contains various references to the Biblical flood. For example, Jackson's son is named Noah, the cruise ship where Adrian's father Harry performs is called Genesis (the book in the Bible in which the account appears), and humanity is saved by the use of "arks". At one point animals are lifted aboard the arks. Category:Films Category:2009 Category:American Films Category:2012 (Film)